This presentation describes coordination of federal biometric and identity management activities, and was given at the 2009 Biometric Consortium Conference.

1. Interagency Session
NSPD-59 and Identity Management
Duane Blackburn
Office of Science and Technology Policy
Executive Office of the President
September 22, 2009
Biometrics.gov

2. Interagency Session
NSPD-59
Duane Blackburn
Office of Science and Technology Policy
Executive Office of the President
Biometrics.gov

3. Brief History Recap
► 9/11
► NSTC Subcommittee on Biometrics and IdM
► RDT&E Focus
► Expand to standards and privacy
► Address interoperability concerns
► NIP: Operational Issue
► Partnership with NSTC
► Strategic Framework for KSTs, approved by NSTC and
NSC
► NSPD-59
► KSTs
► NSTs
Biometrics in Government Post 9/11: Advancing
Science, Enhancing Operations Biometrics.gov

4. NSPD-59: Current Status
► Known and Suspected Terrorists (KSTs)
► OMB and agencies integrating Strategic Framework into
budget plans
► Interim measures in place while full functionality is being
developed
► National Security Threats (NSTs)
► Reviewed some categories of individuals that don’t quite
rise to the level of terrorists to see how well the USG is
identifying and screening for them.
► KST-style approach not appropriate
► Existing bi- (or multi-)agency approaches are working
well
► Continued assessments planned
Biometrics.gov

5. NSPD-59: FAQs
► How can biometrics community help?
► Standards; RDT&E
► “Biometrics PD” is a misnomer
► How has the administration change impacted PD
activities?
► Key thrusts and personnel remain unchanged
► Consolidation of HSC and NSC has been beneficial
► Can the PD be considered a success?
► Pros: Raised stature of efforts with incoming
appointees
► Cons: Development of PD took lots of time and effort
that we are still trying to recover from; addition of
concurrent NST thrust sapped resources
► Summation: Ask me in five years! Biometrics.gov

6. Interagency Session
Identity Management
Duane Blackburn
Office of Science and Technology Policy
Executive Office of the President
Biometrics.gov

7. Government-supported
Studies/Work
► President’s Identity Theft Task Force
► 2006-2007
► NSTC Task Force on Identity Management
► Jan-Jul 2008
► First Holistic Analysis
► NSTAC Identity Management Task Force
► Dec 2008 – May 2009
► External Advisory Committee
► Initial tasking: Secure Authentication via Internet
► OECD/WPISP
► Mar 2008 – June 2009
► “The Role of Digital Identity Management in the Internet
Economy: A Primer for Policymakers”
► CIO Council’s ISIMC
► Established 2008
► Addressing USG Credentialing issues
► 60-day Cyber Security review
► Feb-May 2009 Biometrics.gov

8. Common Themes - Importance
► Identity Management is a critical, though often
underappreciated, component of successful
applications in a variety of sectors
► IdM can help remove barriers to collaboration and
innovation by ensuring trust
► People/things have only one “true” identity, but
several aliases with varying degrees of
confidence in the linkages to the “true” identity.
► How to enable and manage these identities properly in
a single application is difficult, but is even more difficult
across interconnected systems
► IdM activities in one application impacts and
relies upon others, though these impacts aren’t
normally understood or accounted for Biometrics.gov

9. Common Themes – R&D
► Technology available now is good, but
improvements are needed to improve
capabilities, resiliency, privacy protection,
convenience and security
► Research is needed on how to best combine
different technologies
► Researcher access to useful data is an inhibitor
► Side to side comparisons of technology options is
difficult/confusing and isn’t keeping pace with
new products
Biometrics.gov

10. Common Themes - Standards
► Interoperability is difficult if the systems do not
share definitions and data structures
► Increases the chance of errors, which would be
propagated throughout the interconnected systems
► Market-based and consensus-supported
standards most likely to be universally accepted
► The existence and use of universal standards (or
lack thereof) is often viewed as an indicator of a
market/technology’s maturity
Biometrics.gov

11. Common Themes - Privacy
► Improving IdM can actually enhance privacy
protection over the status quo – if done properly
► Outreach is an important aspect of privacy policy
► Even if the privacy policy is correct, negative public
perception will scuttle a program quickly
► Privacy isn’t just for lawyers
► Building protections directly into the technology will
provide greater assurance that the protections are
implemented thoroughly and consistently.
► A single IdM privacy breach creates enduring
problems in multiple systems
► Privacy and security aren’t mutually exclusive
Biometrics.gov

12. Common Themes – Need for Governance
► Identity-based systems are inherently connected
to one another. Overall governance is required to
manage this properly rather than ad-hoc or not at
all
► All levels of government have the responsibility to
ensure the safety and wellbeing of its citizenry –
and IdM has clear impacts on national security,
the economy, cyberspace, and individual
healthcare
► Government must provide leadership and work
with all stakeholders to create favorable
conditions for the development of IdM that
benefits users
Biometrics.gov

13. Looking to the Future
► National dialogue
► Standards development
► Policy coordination
► Public/Private partnership
Biometrics.gov

14. Duane Blackburn
dblackburn@ostp.eop.gov
202-456-6068
Biometrics.gov